Suicide In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

Things Fall Apart Okonkwo, a fearsome warrior with three wives, has made many decisions during his life, however, one deplorable arbitration affected the lives of the jillion that held him close to their hearts. This decision, is of course his suicide. While many believe suicide is never the answer in Okonkwo's case it was the answer, he committed suicide because he believed that the men of Umuofia have become women and that the militaristic Umuofia that he once loved was no longer warmongering and seemed to hesitate greatly when going to war. This reconciliation finally disclosed that things have fallen apart for the people of Umuofia and Okonkwo.
Okonkwo, the warmonger of Umuofia, renown for his second to none wrestling skills and his aggressive nature, was the son of Unoka. Over his lifetime he has made many decisions that impacted his life and his family’s lives. Such as, when he killed Ikemefuna. He killed Ikemefuna as a sacrifice to Mbaino, but more importantly he killed him to make evident that he was a true man and feared nothing. This eventually lead to Okonkwo's mental state deteriorating and his son joining the Missionaries. “Okonkwo did not taste any food for two days after the
death of Ikemefuna. He drank palm wine from morning till night, and his eyes were red and fierce like the eyes of a rat when it was caught by the tail and dashed against the floor.” (Achebe 63).
However, the biggest decision of Okonkwo’s life was his suicide in chapter 25.
The main song and dance for his suicide was because he could not handle the changes that were happening within his tribe with the white men arriving. He views the white men and his fellow clansmen that have indoctrinated their ways as irresolute and lackadaisical. He is the only one resisting the tide of change and he tries to revert everyone to their original ferocious selves by killing the colonial officer, but to no avail. So after trying every other method he could think of he then kills himself. That’s why his suicide was the correct decision. Okonkwo, the strong man of Umuofia, was a relic of the past his barbarous nature was left out in the cold after the white men started taking over
Umuofia.
With Okonkwo’s life ending adjudication came great consequences, such as the people of Umuofia losing their greatest warrior. Furthermore, Umuofia lost any chance they had of taking out the missionaries. Additionally, to the Ibo people suicide is the least honorable death a man could die. “” It is an abomination for a man to take his own life. It is an offense against the Earth, and a man who commits it will not buried by his fellow clansmen.”
In conclusion, Okonkwo became a relic of the past trying to endure the tides of change that the missionaries were bringing upon the Ibo people. He was too stubborn to change along with the Ibo people and instead tried to revert everyone back to how it was originally. The only battle Okonkwo could not win.